NCIS Season 23 Episode 11 ‘Army of One’ is a Jessica Knight episode, but it’s also a great hour for the team dynamics on this version of NCIS. Because this team, this team works. And that’s a very good thing, considering they had a lot to live up to.
There aren’t many shows that have been on the air as long as NCIS has, and most of the long-running ones only get to these numbers by nailing the normal turnover of actors and, by extension, characters. It’s hard to keep the same people, so you at least have to make sure whoever comes afterwards can live up to what you originally built.
NCIS has seen the team we loved in the beginning change quite a few times, and surprisingly, most iterations have worked pretty well. This Season 23 version of the NCIS team works particularly well, and ‘Army of One’ is proof of why.
MORE: Have you checked out the NCIS companion podcast? Brian Dietzen and Diona Reasonover tell us why you should!
THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM
The whole thing with Vance being Vance and his rocky relationship with Parker these days (which I’m sure we’ll revisit at some point) aside, the way the team reacts to Jessica being the subject of an investigation is pretty much how we expected them to react. In fact, my only complaint is that Jimmy wasn’t around to also be supportive, even though there was really nothing for Jimmy to do since they didn’t have a body.
I just like Jimmy, okay? And emotional support is also important!
But the team rallying behind Jessica, even when she doubted herself, is the type of storyline that procedurals love and one that only works as well as this episode did when we actually believe the characters would break the rules for one of their own. And in this team, we very much do. It’s not just that we believe Parker would do it, or Nick would do it (the most likely suspects), but we also believe McGee and Kasie would do it.
That’s what this team is all about. They got each other’s backs first. That’s perhaps why I’m a little apprehensive about the possibility of another member the show set up at the end of this episode. It might be fun to shake up the dynamic, I won’t deny that. But if all they’re doing is giving me another dude so they can throw Jess into an actual love triangle instead of the fake one they tried with Torres, when we just want her with Jimmy, let’s not do that.
MORE: Did you miss Ellie Bishop’s return? Here’s our review!
I SHOULDN’T HAVE DOUBTED MYSELF
Other than the team dynamics, perhaps the most important takeaway from this episode is that Jessica’s instincts are dead on. If Malone had listened to her from the beginning, we wouldn’t have ended up where we did. And though all is well that ends well, may it serve as a nice confirmation for Jessica to trust her instincts.
Just as it serves as a nice confirmation that her team will, even when she doesn’t.
Now, would I have liked this episode to delve deeper into Jessica and not fixate on one case from her past? Yes, but I do believe examining her instincts and reaffirming that they are good works twofold. Because the thing about Jessica is that she’s been second-guessing where she belongs for a while, and part of it has been second-guessing herself. Is the thing she wants the right thing? Can she trust her gut, or should she do something she perhaps doesn’t want because it fits with her plan or what others expect of her?
We always knew her instincts were good. And if she needed confirmation, well, now she has it.
MORE: Here’s how to watch every NCIS show in order
Things I think I think
- For a moment, I had a heart attack thinking Knight had a little brother we didn’t know about.
- CID dude is annoying me.
- “Let’s go step on some toes.” Parker, I am very fond of you.
- The Abby mention in the year of our Lord 2026! I appreciate you, Timothy.
- Parker and Vance have so many unfinished problems at this point that we could do an entire episode about whatever is going on with them.
- We probably will, knowing this show.
- The moment Jessica gave her gun and badge to Vance, I was like, yeah, something else is going on here.
- LOL at Tim and Nick watching Parker and Vance’s yelling match. I mean, I would do the same in their position; it’s just funny.
- She’s been gone a day, and the boys were like: we miiiiisssseeeed youuu.
- “I shouldn’t have doubted myself.”/”That’s okay, we never did.”
- Aww Nick.
- “Are you hoping for a date?”/”No ma’am, I’m hoping for a job.”
- Ugh, I do not like this man. And is he coming in because at this point they can’t pretend there is actually a love triangle between Jessica, Jimmy and Nick, and they need someone else to sell that?
- I mean, not that we know for sure it’s happening, it was just very obvious setup.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS Season 23, Episode 11 ‘Army of One’? Please share with us in the comments below! And if you have any thoughts about the show, leave a review/rating of your own in our NCIS hub!
NCIS airs Mondays at 8/7c on CBS.
